Books/Mags/Blogs

We draw your attention to this interesting biography of Jazz Age author Joseph Montcore March. March, the artist, lived on the edge, often quite literally. March, the person, took his social responsibilities very seriously. His work continues to resonate with readers, even though, as noted, the hipster dialogue of his great work The Wild Party is quaint by today’s standards. As will be the language of our books one hundred years from now. The question “Is it poetry?” has dogged The Wild Party since its first publication. (The best answer may be William S. Burroughs’: “Of course it’s poetry. It […]

Far be it for us to tell others how to conduct their own business*, but we would be remiss if we didn’t suggest to the Catholic Church that timing matters. For example, if a book has rested at the top of bestsellers lists for, well, forever, then perhaps a scold about reading the so-called heresy would have been better received two years ago (give or take). See, the problem is that once everyone has purchased their requisite two copies (this is our theory on the book’s continued bestsellerdom), it’s like closing the barn door after the pigs race out. Presuming

We realize it’s the job of the press to find new and intriguing angles to not-so new and intriguing stories. We appreciated this article on mystery fiction because the author took it up a notch. As it turns out, mystery novels reflect some very basic aspects of life. And they do it with immediacy and relevance. (Via

You know, Jodi Picoult had us for a second there. We were buying into her angst, so to speak. But when she didn’t connect the dots, she lost us after presenting what would be a fine argument. To summarize, her book The Pact resonates with high school students and is being included on reading lists. Once, a mother declared the book “trash” and wanted it banned (our regular readers know how we feel about this subject). Picoult disagreed — her book was not smut or trash. No, Picoult believes her books are better than that. They are not “beach” reads

In this corner, we have publishers citing evidence that consumers want to pay more for bigger books (The Reading Glasses Argument). In the other corner, we have a study that suggest readers want to pay less for books, size not mentioned (The Books Are Expensive Argument). Sure, your first reaction might be that the British are cheap, but that argument doesn’t hold up for long. Publishers, noting the decline of mass market paperback sales, are legitimately alarmed, and of course it makes sense to think that aging eyes are responsible for a decline of of approximately 30 million units over

Don’t get us wrong: we have the greatest respect for the Great Ormond Street Hospital, and believe those poor little kids get the short end of the stick when it comes to money from exploiting Peter Pan. We wish that weren’t the case, but they stand at the bottom of the financial totem pole (this may actually be an instance where an entity makes less than authors, but we cannot be sure). However, Peter Pan does not need a sequel. There is no logical reason (except for financial) to take the story to the next step. In fact, imagining what

We went into this article on the, uh, death of first fiction filled with appropriate sympathy. Truly. For many reasons, not all of which are selfish, we want authors to succeed and write and publish. We want lots of variety when it comes to reading choices. We need appropriate material for dark and stormy moods; we need just the right thing for first day of spring moods. Let us suggest that today’s literary fiction doesn’t sell at blockbuster levels because it doesn’t speak to mass audiences. We remain perplexed by the continued success of The Da Vinci Code, but the

In favor of reincarnation: surely this isn’t our only chance to get it right. Against reincarnation: surely we would have come back rich. As we read Jane Guills’ backstory for Nectar From A Stone, we were struck by the idea that sometimes you just don’t know. Things happen that cannot be explained. Then again, why do they need to be explained? Why not just accept the convergence or the weirdness or the fact that what you least expect is exactly what you need? Jane Guill’s Backstory for Nectar from A Stone

So they’re sitting around the publishing office, worried. Young(ish) Swift has written his masterpiece, but the market is crowded. Books are everywhere. If you have a pen and a decent imagination (and can afford reams of paper to crumple into balls and toss), you’re writing and publishing. The classics, and our publisher knows he has one on his hands, are being lost in the mix. Swift’s book doesn’t stand a chance. Or does it? Robert McCrum wonders if rationality has been lost in the desire to label everything an “instant” classic (this is, after all, the world that has already